>> protests this cairo, with the trial of egypt's deposed president about to resume. >> hello, welcome to al jazeera. also ahead on the program. the first batch of chemical weapons is taken out of syria by sea. >> north korea celebrates kim jong un's birthday, by announ announcing elections. >> and taking aim at the commander-in-chief. a former u.s. defense secretary attacks barack obama in his

memoires. >> there's tension in egypt as the trial of deposed president mohamed morsi resumes in cairo. he's due before the judges shortly. there has been protests near the court. these are the pictures from the nasser city area. tear gas is being fired on anti-coup demonstrators. >> this is the scene live outside of the courtroom at cairo police academy, where he'll be appearing shortly. security is on high alert. mohamed morsi is on trial with 14 muslim brotherhood members, accused of inciting the killing of protesters during mohamed morsi's presidency in 2012. the prosecution says mohamed morsi incited his supporters to use violence and commit murder. the case looks at the deaths of people protesting against a

decree extending mohamed morsi's powers in 2012. he's accused on calling on his supporters to disperse a sit-in outside a presidential palace. 10 died in the resulting violence. mohamed morsi faces other charges, including fraud and conspiracy to commit terrorism, but will stand trial for those at a later date. >> now to a senior lecturer on mus lamb. we are seeing protests on the streets of cairo, met with force by security. what sort of volatile backdrop is the trial taking place against? >>. >> i think it's important to bear two things in mind. looking back in what has transpired in egypt over the last half year since the removal of president mohamed morsi from office, is a confrontation between two powerful political forces in the country.

on the one hand the muslim brotherhood and its supporters, and, of course, surrounding president mohamed morsi, and on the other hand what you could call the deep state of egypt, bringing together the civil bureaucracy, the military and the judiciary. they have been in a standoff for half a year, and looking forward in time, of course, this month will be not only important because of the trial, the first trial against president mohamed morsi, but because we have a referendum coming up on the new constitution, and the supporters of mohamed morsi will be contesting not only the illegitimacy of his removal, making also a case that the charges which are presently being laid against him in court are trumped up, politically motivated charges, but they will use the protest, i would imagine to challenge this new constitution which has been

drafted by a committee by which the mohamed morsi supporters were excluded. >> one wonders how much momentum the protesters can maintain. we are seeing large numbers of people on the streets. we must remember that the muslim brotherhood has been branded as a terrorist organization. >> exactly. and, of course, over the last couple of months, the military and the security forces have launched an all-out assault on the muslim brotherhood, both its central organisation where the senior members of the guidance bureau has been put in gaol, as well as the freedom and justice party of mohamed morsi. the senior leaders will be held in gaol which will impact on the ability of the muslim brotherhood and the freedom and just party to mobilise the supporters.

anybody associated with the muslim brotherhood has the prospect of facing terrorist charges, and that will have a huge impact on the ability of the supporters of mohamed morsi and his political party to mobilise people, and make a stand. so today is probably going to be a first test case and a possibility also for observers to gauge to what extent the opposition against interim government-backed by the military is still able to put up a fight. >> thank you very much. we'll return to you as we see that trial getting underway. just a reminder to the viewers that we are, in fact, unable to report from egypt, because our team in cairo has been arrested. they've been in detention without charge for now 11 days. >> iraq's military has launched air strikes targetting al qaeda-linked fighters in anbar

province. the release by the defence ministry shows attacks on buildings used by the fighters. they've been trying to catch fallujah and ramadi. thousands have been forced to flee from their home. >> the u.n. announced the first shipment of chemical weapons, to be destroyed. heavy fighting means the deadline was missed. but the assignment is on its way to italy by see. >> it was a small number of containers of toxic chemicals loaded on to the containership and it took two hours. it's a process that's been in the planning for months. it's a delicate process and challenging. syria has to collect the toxic chemicals. transport them, and then the danish and others will take them to a port in italy, and a u.s.

ship which has the capacity to neutralize the chemicals. they missed the deadline, but the process is on track. they point a very important thing, this is a mission, to eliminate records. the roads are not safe, there's a lot of fighting and all these hurdles that will be in the way. they do say that so far all of syria chemical toxic weapons are under u.n. supervision. and the plans and the facilities that can be used or can be used to produce such weapons are unoperational. syria's capacity to produce chemical weapons is zero. >> a day of celebrations for kim jong un's birthdays in north korea. he's chosen the day to announce elections will go ahead in march. there will only be one candidate

in each constituency. >> unlike the birthdays of his father and grandfather, the birthday of kurn is not a national holiday. it's marked in a low-key manner. last year he was reported to have given out sweets to children. this year it's being marked in a high-profile way. dennis rodman, the former u.s. basketball player has brought other u.s. basketball players and conditions his relationship with kim jong un. there'll be a basketball match against members of the north korean team. we'll watch out for pictures of kim jong un and dennis rodman, how much access rodman and the rest of the team get to the leader of north korea. he's been criticised for doing this, after the execution of kim jong un's uncle jang song-thaek. and at a time when another is held in north korea for

unspecified crimes. the one piece of news has been that there'll be an election in march for the supreme people's assembly. only one candidate. they'll run unopposed, there'll be a huge turn out, but analysts will pour over who is in and out for signs of changes in the leadership. >> a fire swept through an express train in india. the blaze began in a second-class carriage on a service travelling from mumbai to the northern si. it's not clear what caused it. another fire on the train in the south-eastern state. killed 26 people millions of dollars worth of cocaine has been found in supermarkets in certainly ni. they discovered the drugs in boxes filled with bananas.

it was sent to the stores by mistake. it's the largest discovery of cocaine in berlin for 15 years. >> former official jack straw is meeting the iranian official. straw is leading a british parliamenty delegation. relations between the u.k. and iran is strained since the british embassy was attacked in 2011. things do seem to be changing. british delegation will meet parliamentary speaker and others. >> a former u.s. secretary of defense is accusing barack obama of mistrusting his military commander during the war. robert gates levelled several others including president obama in his memoires. >> at the end of 2009, u.s. president barack obama told the nation it was time to renew the

fight. >> i have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send u.s. troops to afghanistan. after 18 months our troops will begin to come home. >> behind closed doors, obama's former secretary says the president waffled about fighting a just war. in his new book, robert gates, who served during the presidency accuses white house staffers of undermining president obama's resolve by criticising the demander of the war, general pet rayous, and the idea of a troop surge: >> u.s. news reports about robert gates's memoirs suggest the book is about set lipping scores and a record of his 45 years in government of the gates also has harsh words for

vice president joe biden, a man considered by many to be a foreign policy exempt. >> i think he has been wrong on foreign policy and major security issues. >> gate accuses white house staffers of micromanaging and being clueless about the realities of war. he admitted that he was opposed to the raid in may 2011. some observers say the frankness should not be a surprise. he knows he will never serve in washington and served for a number of administrations on both sides of the aisle. everybody who vetted bob gates before he was selected new what he was getting. >> a white house spokesperson defended the policy calling joe biden a close advisor. given that gates is 70 years old

and retired it is possible he doesn't care what anyone things, even a president who he admires. >> with 55,000 people a night in shelters across new york, the number of homeless people is higher than at any time since the great depression. we are at one shelter. it was once looked down upon, but now coconut harvesting is seeing a resurgens in india, and we'll tell you why.

>> hello again. the top stories on al jazeera. >> there has been protests in egypt as the trial of egypt's deposed president mohamed morsi resumes in cairo. these are pictures from the n.a.s.a. city area of cairo, where tear gas was used to disperse the anti-coup demonstrators. >> syria has sent its first shipment of chemical weapons to be destroyed. scanned navan ships have transported it for destruction off the italian coast. >> parliamentary elections in north korea in march. opposition parties are banned and legislature has little pour. >> speaking of egypt and the status of our team. al jazeera's bureau chief mohamed fadel fahmy will be enter gated by state

prosecutors. mohamed fadel fahmy, baher mohamed and peter greste have been detained by egyptian authorities for 11 days. the network is demanding the freedom of all its staff, including two from our sister state, al jazeera arabic. >> three of al jazeera's egypt based staff are held in custody. the network is demanding their release. mohamed fadel fahmy, peter greste, and baher mohamed are accused of spreading lies harmful to state security, and joining a terrorist organization. al jazeera rejects thx. >> to suggest our reporting on the situation in europe was bias or colluding with one side of the story is outrage ourks there's no justification in locking up our team. >> al jazeera english maintains its coverage of events in egypt has been fair and balance. >> what is the situation security wise across egypt. >> here is one of peter's last reports, talking about the

government's decision to declare the muslim brotherhood a terrorist organization. >> so, over all, what the government was trying to do in this decree was to try and create order and stability, clamping down on what they see as acts of terrorism. it could well have had the opposite effect. it made people a lot more fearful and anxious. >> peter greste is an award-winning correspondent who has reported across africa. >> this is a stage in the process, not an end in itself. >> he worked for the bbc. mohamed fadel fahmy reported for cnn, the "new york times," and the red cross. he's an author, and baher mohamed, seen on the right, is a freelance producer who has worked with the japanese television channel. >> we are grateful for the strong support received from around the world to release the team. once again, we are calling on the egyptian authorities to release them immediately. >> al jazeera english consistently covered both sides of the egypt story.

it reported on the first movement against the muslim brotherhood since it came to power. a street campaign calling for former president mohamed morsi to resign. in tahir square when there were protests against mohamed morsi. it also reported on abdul fatah al-sisi. and covered demonstrations by people opposed to the coup and the crackdown on the muslim brotherhood. >> since the removal of mohamed morsi last july, the egyptian authorities have systematically repressed every media that they regard as muslim brotherhood supporters. al jazeera is seen as the main target of the harassment

campaign. >> two journalists from the arabic channel have also been detained for the last five months. the staff from al jazeera english have been held separately at toura prison and have been entering gated by state prosecutors, but have not been charged. >> south sudan has rejected a demand from rebels to free 11 politicians arrested over a coup plot three weeks ago. negotiators from both sides are in ethiopia trying to end a conflict which killed more than 1,000 people. government troops are battling troops. deputy president riek machar, who is in control of oil fields. >> more and more people are seeking refuge in u.n. camps. some had their homes burnt and looted. oil flows reduced by a fifth. the northern neighbour sudan is concerned that a prolonged war

will destroy the economy. >> it's not easy to do business in khartoum's market. inflation made imported goods more expensive. in the crowd of shoppers, few are able to afford what they need. they've been under u.s. and the government is accused of mismanagement. 75% of sudan's production is lost to the state of south sudan, where the largest fields are. then came the world financial crisis. in 2011 national growth plunged from 7% to 1.3%. now south sudan made a softer flow of southern oil. this will cost sudan about 12% of its revenue by the release of the pipeline. the amount of oil which is moving in the pipeline, it used

to be about 250,000 barrels a day. this has been reduced now to 200,000 barrel a day. without reaching to a political settlement. without reaching to a ceasefire. >> it is a shaky situation. >> there are other concern to how sudan balanced its budgets. >> oil and water sustains life here in sudan, at the moment these two fluids is under threat. a dam is being built in ethiopia and is expected to hold 80 billion litres of water that would flow to sudan. sudan's agriculture could be severely affected. >> more people are smoking cigarettes than before. a billion people across the world have taken up the habit.

figures published is the journal of american publication shows 960 million smoke every day, compared with 721 million in the 1980s. china is the world's largest consumer of tobacco. robert mcbride has more from beijing. >> with 282 smokers in china, it's a vast problem for the government to tackle as anti-smoking campaigners will tell you. if the people of north america and europe gave up smoking, it wouldn't matter if the tab -- tobacco smokers get more consent. the government has been accused not dealing with it. in more recent times there has been astring ept methods taken. there's no longer the blatant advertising. now there has been a directive from the communist parties ordering the officials to take

the lead and set an example, no longer to take sponsorship money from the parties, and for communist parties no longer to smoke in public places such as schools and hospitals. health officials being brought foo place by this year and next year, which will ban smoking in indoor public places and also in work places. china finally adopting the measures in place elsewhere in the world. >> it's being called the coldest winter in the last half century. record temperatures have been recorded across the states. freezing conditions have been tough on the homeless. tens of thousands are sleeping in shelters every night. >> it's a full house at the barry mission for the homeless. cold conditions, the shelter opens the chapel and dining room to accommodate extra demand.

temperatures fell, the shelter took in 179 people. >> matt helps to run the mission, but not before struggling about addiction and homelessness itself. we are dealing with guilt and shame. many years that i fought it off. that approach it in a way where i didn't feel where i was at. new york's homeless population was growing, figures not seen sips the depression. ever ni night shelters take in 55,000 people. that includes 22,000 children, which suffers most in extreme weather. children can't go to school or a lot of meals that are provided at the schools. that puts pressure on the family's budget. >> decline in housing and wages in new york has been widely blamed in homelessness.

mental illness and crowding are considered factors. >> the mayor has been in place. policy changes that have immediate changes on thousands of homeless people. >> bill de blasio reinstated a code blue policy, a law reinstating the policy when temperatures are below 4 degrees. people can drop into centres at any time. the numbers of vans that searches for homeless increases. i ask the people in cities if you see a person in disstress pleas call 911. >> without a roof over your head, it can seem colder. >> an avalanche from the u.s.

state of colorado killed one person. it happened in an offpeace area, popular tourist destination. three others trapped in the snow survived. america's biggest bank is to pay more than $2.5 billion for failing to alert investors to the bernard madoff fraud. the settlement agreed by jpmorgan is the biggest to resolve violations. madoff received a 125 year prison sentence. >> thousands icebreaker that had been stranded in antarctica for several days had broken free. the "snow dragon" had been stuck in thick ice. it was in the region to rescue researchers aboard another trapped ship. the russian ship will continue its research expedition.

now, growing demand for coconuts. one of the world's top producers in 2012, and which report from the heart of india's coconut economy. >> cocoa nuts are sinon muss with carola. the trees are everywhere. even here it's not enough to keep up with demand. at this government-sponsored training camp locals learnt to climbed coconut trees. it's in an effort. what was once a job looked down upon is a positive profession. >> in my village, i'm the first one to do this. it's more popular. the traditional way is hard. one has to climb the tree and gets injured. with the help of the machine,

it's easier and safer. it's not just simply climbing up tree, but work on tree maintenance and yoga before one can become a professional harvester. with coconuts available, farmers have to plant and harvest more trees to reach demand. that is set to outpace supply. because of the demand coconut tree farming is booming in carola. >> this man has been farming here for 25 years, and says previously coconut trees were chopped down to make room for rubber trees. now that trend is reversing and the coconut trees in the nursery are back in demand. >> the price is better. >> supply has not risen enough, and traders are feeling effects. times are tough. >> there's a lot of demand, but

there's not enough supplies. >> as farming cocoa nuts is popular, harvesting is picking up and breathing new life into an old profession. >> and a reminder you can keep up-to-date with the news on the website. >> the economic toll with the fridge ied weather starts with hirer bills for you. jpmorgan failed miserably when it came to bernie madoff's trade. i talk to one of his victims, and a man that cashes in on a thirst for